Along an assembly line, various types of articles, such as for example, diapers and other absorbent articles, may be assembled by adding components to and/or otherwise modifying an advancing, continuous web of material. For example, in some processes, advancing webs of material are combined with other advancing webs of material. In other examples, individual components created from advancing webs of material are combined with advancing webs of material, which in turn, are then combined with other advancing webs of material. In some cases, individual components created from advancing web or webs are combined with other individual components created from other advancing web or webs. Webs of material and component parts used to manufacture diapers may include: backsheets, topsheets, leg cuffs, waistbands, absorbent core components, front and/or back ears, fastening components, and various types of elastic webs and components such as leg elastics, barrier leg cuff elastics, stretch side panels, and waist elastics. Once the desired component parts are assembled, the advancing web(s) and component parts are subjected to a final knife cut to separate the web(s) into discrete diapers or other absorbent articles.
Some production operations are configured to advance and cut continuous lengths of elastic substrate into discrete lengths of elastic substrate. The discrete lengths of elastic substrate may be used, for example, as barrier leg cuff elastics, elastic waistbands, or front and/or back ears for absorbent articles. In some operations, an elastic substrate may advance on a vacuum drum in a stretched state. The elastic substrate may be cut into discrete lengths of elastic substrate while advancing on the drum. The drum may be configured with vacuum to hold the discrete lengths of elastic substrate in a stretched state on the outer circumferential surface of the drum. The discrete lengths of elastic substrate may have a first end region and a second end region separated by a central region. In some processes, the discrete length of elastic substrate may be uniformly stretched from the first end region to the second end region.
In some instances, the real and/or perceived fit of the absorbent article on the wearer may be improved by providing different regions of the discrete length of elastic substrate with different amounts of stretch. For example, in the case of an elastic waistband, it may be useful for the center of the elastic waistband to have more stretch than the ends of the elastic waistband in order to hold the absorbent article on the wearer while not being too tight as to cause discomfort around the hips of the wearer. Accordingly, it may be desirable to provide a process and apparatus for consolidating regions of a stretched discrete length of elastic substrate while maintaining stretch in at least one region of the discrete length of elastic substrate.
In some processes, different amounts of stretched may be imparted to discrete lengths of elastic substrate by hand. However, absorbent articles may be manufactured in high speed production operations. Therefore, there exists a need to impart different amounts of stretch to discrete lengths of elastic substrate in a manufacturing process operating at high speeds. In other processes, different amounts of stretch may be imparted to discrete lengths of elastic substrate by advancing the substrate through a series of operations, which adds cost and complexity to the manufacturing process. Therefore, it may be beneficial to provide a simplified process and apparatus for consolidating regions of a discrete length of elastic substrate in a high speed manufacturing operation.